I’ve recently discovered that I’m better off using the lousy skill granted by Seal of Blight, instead of the fully upgraded Phantasmal blades, with Frenetic throw. From what I understand they both use casting speed, so let’s compare the flat damage output (without DoT) these two skills have, assuming we manage to convert all the damage components to the same type.
AP attacks 4 times per time unit with the damage displayed, reaching 140% weapon damage and 1.8k flat damage.
PB hits (in the best case scenario) with 5 projectiles the same enemy, but Frenetic throw makes it lose % weapon damage and then halves (or more) its total remaining damage. This means 75% weapon damage and 1k flat damage in total.
You can clearly see that PB has half the damage of AP, for a huge investment of 40 skill points. Why would anyone choose this skill at all. I haven’t looked in detail to see if there’s gear that makes it much better, but just as it is, it seems much less potent than a lousy skill that anyone could get from a crafted component.
In my opinion, this skill needs to either be improved to at least match the damage of this Acid purge skill or it should generate some useful effects that would make you have no second thoughts for taking it. Effects like fear, so you can clear the path of enemies, especially when you’re a ranged/caster build. Or maybe some % reduced health per hit. Or even all three upgrades mentioned, to make you desperate enough to take the skill, no matter the cost.
Somewhat the same happens for Drain essence and Flames of Ignaffar, although the difference is not that pronounced and these skills also have a lot of useful effects and even internal damage scaling for some of their components. These two skills should also be slightly improved in terms of damage, just so they can overtake granted skills like the one mentioned. Because I for one would stop and ponder why do I invest 40 or more points in a skill, especially when I want to have more than one skill for my build and I need to be careful with the skill points spent.
Then do you identify any calculation errors in what I just wrote? Because I could say that there would be even more “Acid purge” builds in the top builds list, by using this logic and the actual numbers when it comes to dps. I don’t have a problem to be wrong, as long as I learn something and start to do things better from that point on.
Did you provide a build?
doesn’t see one
The only build that actually used acid purge in it’s skill rotation was the vitality archon and it only used it bc it was a filler skill to proc the will of ratosh devo and smooth out sustain. The majority of that builds damage came from stacking dots using player scaled pets.
The reason PB and DE are so busted is because of the skills baked in crit damage with DE reaching as high as +75% crit damage with hungering reach hard capped. Pair that with very high OA and kinda busted set modifiers (im looking at you Demonslayer Set) and these skills reach insanely high DPS
“I haven’t looked in detail to see if there’s gear that makes it much better”
This says it all, Phantasmal Blades has actual gear support which Acid Purge can never have, so comparing the two like you have is completely asinine.
Ok, so I agree with you that with heavy investment from gear, you’d somehow overtake Acid purge. But “heavy investment” is the keyword, besides the 40 skill points used. Why wouldn’t I take 2 extra (and more powerful) skills with cooldowns, knowing that with no investment I can use Acid purge better than PB as the spammable attack?
Yeah, well I said with zero investment. Which allows me to invest in plenty more powerful skills I can use in parallel or scale my existing ones. Why would I waste all my skill points and gear just to make PB better than Acid purge, when I can get AP for free and have all my skill points and gear free to be used for other skills?
Because PB and Drain Essence become far stronger than Acid Purge with mods.
Skills are balanced around itemization, not by themselves.
You haven’t even looked at the gear, so you could not possibly have an informed opinion on it. Any opinion you express is therefore entirely useless.
Drain essence comes closer to the damage of AP, so I believe that it would overtake it easily. However, the main point here is the ratio between investment and profit. Anyone should agree that you’d be better off using your gear and skill points to max and augment another skill (or even two) with a cooldown, as long as you can get AP to fill the gap between cooldowns with a total dps twice the one of PB, for zero investment.
Thanks a lot, as were yours.
The investment you get from the free points doesn’t nowhere near make up for the huge damage boost from itemization.
In fact, a lot of builds don’t even struggle with points, meaning you get barely anything if you got a bunch of free points. Because what matters the most is already maxed out.
if i stack skill modifiers the skill becomes good (literally your logic)
So, do you agree that I’d be better off to take, let’s say, Aegis of Menhir and Ring of steel and use all my skills and gear to max them out, then take AP to have a spammable skill as well to fill in the gaps. Instead of ever choosing PB as the spammable attack and not be able to take the two additional skills with cooldown, because I can’t afford to buff them up anymore? Then I’m right. PB needs to be buffed as a main skill, to be at least as potent as AP. The ratio between investment and profit needs to be kept close to the same in all cases, otherwise no one would choose anything with a smaller ratio.
That’s literally the opposite of what i said.
Well, make it make more sense if you want to. I’m willing to see the error of my ways and actually become tempted to use PB as a spammable skill.
Seven threads in the last two days pointing out so-called flaws in the game
The forum has a search function that you can use to see who else has mentioned these skills. The top 21 builds thread posted earlier is full of people who have thousands of hours of experience in the game and know it inside and out. There is nothing that you are saying that these players haven’t tested extensively and made conclusive results.
Yes, is there a limit to discussions and ideas? Because I didn’t see one. Are you trying to say that I (as in just me) should stop posting because it somehow bothers you? I could do that. But why did you create this topic of discussion about game concepts then? Maybe you need to hand over special privileges for who should post and everything would be better.